From green to blue economy

Mapping the Future

By Dr. Cora Claudio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Color-coding in the environment field can be quite confusing, partly because it is applied on ecosystems, infrastructure, services, economies, and other subjects.  For ecosystems, “green” refers to the terrestrial ecosystem and “blue” refers to the marine ecosystem.

But when the United Nations made “Green Economy” a major theme of the Rio+20 world summit in June 2012, it referred to concerns beyond terrestrial. At the summit, Green Economy is viewed, in the context of sustainable development, as the type of economy that “should contribute to eradicating poverty, as well as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare and creating new opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while maintaining the healthy functioning of the earth’s ecosystems.”

Many other definitions of green economy have emerged before, during, and after Rio+20. It is easier to see how it can be applied than to find a definition that is acceptable to all.

A green building, through adoption of energy efficiency measures, is an example of a green economy initiative. In addition to green buildings, the other main sectors in a green economy are renewable energy, clean transportation, water management, waste management, and natural resource management.

On the way to Rio+20, the Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS) started promoting “Blue Economy, ” which is focused on the marine environment. For the Pacific SIDS, “green economy” is a “blue economy” that prominently features oceans, which account for almost 71 percent of the earth’s surface. Some concerns of the Pacific SIDS are increasing their share of benefits from the use of their marine living resources and building the resilience of marine ecosystems to the impact of climate change and ocean acidification.

From green to blue economy